1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to shoes that are easily put on and taken off and are comfortable to wear. In particular, the invention relates to shoes that for the elderly and for persons who by some cause are physically disabled are easily put on and taken off and that are comfortable to wear. The invention further relates to shoes that are easy for caregivers to put on nursing care recipients.
2. Description of the Related Art
These kinds of shoes have been available in the past. One example is a shoe for nursing care recipients, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Pat. App. Pub. No. 2002-262906. This shoe is shown in FIG. 7 as a first conventional example. FIG. 7A is an oblique view showing the shoe with fastening tape 31 attached to the underside of the belt 32, and complementary fastening tape 31 corresponding to the tape on the belt 32 and attached to the vamp in order to open and close the shoe. FIG. 7B is an oblique view showing the shoe on a foot. This shoe has a V-shaped slit from the instep to the toe, fastening tape 31 attached to the right and left sides of the slit, and a belt 32 with fastening tape 31 attached to its underside, so that the shoe may be opened or closed on the right or left side by attaching the belt 32 to the right or left side of the vamp.
A second example is a shoe for rehabilitation, disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Pat. App. Pub. No. 2001-46109, that consists of a shoe with a vamp, all or part of which is covered with a fastener surface, and a separate fastening belt with first fastening tape attached to its underside.
This shoe is shown in FIG. 8 as a second conventional example. FIG. 8A is an oblique view showing the shoe with a vamp that functions as the pile part of a hook-and-pile fastener 41, and a separate fastening belt 42 with the hook part of the hook-and-pile fastener 43 attached to its underside. FIG. 8B is an oblique view showing a foot in the shoe with the fastening belt 42 fastened.
A third example is a shoe with a vamp that has a belt attached to one side and an open section in the center with a flap attached to the lower end of the open section, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Pat. App. Pub. No. 2001-104012. The top of the flap and surface of the vamp are made of loop fabric. Hook fabric is attached to the edges of the underside of the flap and to the end of the underside of the belt so that the flap may be fastened to the vamp and the belt may be fastened to the vamp over the top of the flap.
This shoe is shown in FIG. 9 as a third conventional example. FIG. 9 is an oblique view of the shoe with a belt 51 and flap 52, showing the belt 51 and the flap 52 with hook fabric 53 (the hook part of a hook-and-pile fastener) attached to the undersides, the belt 51 and flap 52 unfastened, and the front part completely open.
A fourth example is a shoe for the elderly and the disabled that uses a slide fastener (or zipper) attached to a slit along either side of the eyelets for shoelaces, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Pat. App. Pub. No. 2001-104010. When the wearer puts on the shoe for the first time, the slide fasteners are kept fastened and the shoelaces are loosened. The shoelaces are then tightened to fit the shoe to the wearer's foot. Subsequently, the wearer may put on and remove the shoes by simply fastening and unfastening the slide fasteners.
This shoe is shown in FIG. 10 as a fourth conventional example. FIG. 10A is an oblique view of the shoe with slide fasteners 61 at both sides of the shoelaces 62. FIG. 10B is an oblique view of the shoe with a slide fastener 61 unzipped to open out the cuff. FIG. 10C is an oblique view showing the slide fastener 61 being fastened.
Although the conventional shoes described above each in their own way demonstrate a certain effectiveness, for the elderly and the disabled in particular, putting on and removing these shoes is a hard task, such that they are still inadequate in terms of ease of wear.
It is difficult for elderly or disabled persons to put on shoes while seated because they have to push feet that may be swollen or painful into fixed-shaped shoes and then push their heels in place as well.